BLACK HILLS ENERGY PROMOTES LIBERAL EMPLOYEE RONNIE SUMNER LIBERAL, Kan., Jan 9, 2013 - Black Hills Energy recently announced that Liberal employee Ronnie Sumner has accepted the position of Operation Supervisor. Sumner previously was a Lead Gas Operations Technician. Throughout his 28-year career at Black Hills Energy, Ronnie has been a model and leader in our safety programs, serving all 28 years without an accident or injury. Sumner also serves Black Hills Energy as an Operations Qualification Evaluator.

In his new role, Sumner will be responsible for supervising front-line employees who perform construction maintenance and operations of gas facilities in order to provide safe and reliable gas utility service to Black Hills Energy's 11,000 natural gas customers in the Liberal service area.
"Ronnie's qualifications and experience will benefit both the company and our customers as we put our energy into providing safe, reliable natural gas service," said Lon Meyer, the operations manager for Southwest Kansas. "We're pleased to see Ronnie seize this new opportunity and we're confident he'll excel."
Sumner is a lifetime resident of Liberal, where he attended both high school and Seward County Community College. He has been a Volunteer Firefighter in the City of Liberal since 1993 and received the Volunteer Firefighter of the Year award in 2011.

Media Contact:

Gabe Schlickau 316-648-0335
Media Relations Line 866-243-9002

ABOUT BLACK HILLS ENERGY

Black Hills/Kansas Gas Utility Company, LLC d/b/a Black Hills Energy serves 110,000 natural gas customers in 57
Kansas communities. Black Hills Energy is a subsidiary of Black Hills Corp., a diversified energy company with a tradition of exemplary service and a vision to be the energy partner of choice. Black Hills Corp. is based in Rapid City, S.D., with corporate offices in Denver and Papillion, Neb. Black Hills Corp. serves 765,000 natural gas and electric utility customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, and its non- regulated businesses generate wholesale electricity and produce natural gas, oil and coal. Black Hills' 2,000 employees partner to produce results that are improving life with energy. More information is available at www.blackhillscorp.com.

distributed by